As the academic programs offered at Morningside continue to change and adapt, some faculty are left searching for new jobs. Here’s how one professor is dealing with this change.

Laura Kinnaman came to Morningside College five years ago to teach physics because of her passion for physics and her love for liberal arts colleges.

However, as enrollment in the physics and engineering programs remained low and as the talk of reprioritization came around, Kinnaman knew that the physics program was going to be one of the first on the chopping block.

The Provost of the college delivered the news of the physics program being phased out and her job being cut at the end of last summer. After hearing the news, Kinnaman started looking to the future.

“It is hard to invest five years into a place only to have to leave. I’ve really liked teaching here! On the other hand, there are other places to teach at, so I’m trying to stay positive about the next chapter of my life,” Kinnaman said.

She is now looking to teach in Los Angeles, where she has family and where teaching opportunities abound.

She sees physics as an integral part of a liberal arts education and is sad to see to see the program leave Morningside. “It lets you think about the world in a very organized way, at the very fundamental levels of why things behave like they do. It’s also generally seen as an important part of liberal arts, as it promotes critical thinking,” Kinnaman said.

She wishes Morningside the best and commends the college on how well it treated her through the process. She hopes the college overcomes the challenges that might arise from dropping physics.

by Alyssa Nehring–Thursday Night, Mohana Rajakumar kicked off her Dimmitt Fellowship at an author reading from her short story collection, Coloured and Other Stories, followed by a conversation with Steve Coyne.

Rajakumar chose to share the first short story she ever wrote, Weeds. The story is about an immigrant family struggling to grasp the unknowns of living in America, like the new concept of lawn care. Rajakumar shared that she wrote this stories as part of a workshop she took during graduate school. She mentioned that she wrote the stories out of frustration. The other students were always writing about characters she didn’t relate to. She wrote Weeds and the rest of Coloured and Other Stories to shock the other members of her creative written class.

During questions and answers, Rajakumar mentioned how Weeds was about the changes immigrants go through when adjusting to a new culture and the struggles of doing so. She dove into the different family styles, work ethic styles, and other differences between the United States and South Asia.

After hearing Weeds and some explanation of the story, the audience was curious about her writing process. Rajakumar said she gets a lot of her inspiration from her home. She explained, “We carry our homes with us. We take pieces and build it to be home.” Rajkumar often draws her stories from her own experiences; however, some of her stories are based on Qataries cultural lifestyle. To ensure accuracy, Rajakumar observes and relies on her friends to help with the uncleared details.

Emily Knapp found the event to be unexpectedly eye-opening. “I had read some of her memoirs in her book I’m reading for my creative nonfiction writing class, but I felt like the interview went more in-depth in the similarities and differences between America and Qatar,” mentioned Knapp. “I’m interested in seeing her plays on Sunday as well as her other events.”

Rajakumar’s book, Coloured and Other Stories, was adopted as the first common read this fall in preparation for Rajakumar’s fellowship. The goal of a common read is to act as a platform to for a campus-wide conversation about a text.

Rajakumar’s Dimmitt Fellowship will continue until Fri. March 23. During her fellowship, Rajakumar will be hosting two more public events. On Sun. March 18. at 2 pm “Diversity: An Afternoon or New 10-Minute Plays by Mohana Rajakumar” presented by Morningside Theater students will take place in Klinger-Neal Theater. A Q & A with Rajakumar and the student directors will immediately follow the performance.

The final public event is a lecture on “Making Rivers in the Desert: What Americans Can Learn Living Abroad”. This event will focus on Rajakumar’s personal experiences living and working in the Middle East and her belief in the value of such experiences as a means of understanding ourselves and the world around us better. This event will be held in UPS Auditorium on Mar. 20 at 7 pm.

All of Rajakumar’s main events are free and open to the public. If you are interested in learning more about Rajakumar’s visit, please contact Dr. Christina Triezenberg, Assistant Professor of English, via email at triezenbergc@morningside.edu. Rajakumar’s fellowship is partially funded by a grant from Humanities Iowa.

]]>http://wordpress.morningside.edu/thecr/archives/9242/feed0Two NAIA First Round wins (photos)http://wordpress.morningside.edu/thecr/archives/9205
http://wordpress.morningside.edu/thecr/archives/9205#respondFri, 09 Mar 2018 18:07:15 +0000http://wordpress.morningside.edu/thecr/?p=9205Both the men’s and women’s Mustang basketball teams won their first-round NAIA tournament games, Thursday, March 8. A men’s game story is HERE, and a women’s story is HERE. Both teams return to the court in round two Friday.
]]>http://wordpress.morningside.edu/thecr/archives/9205/feed0Dimmitt Fellow: Mohana Rajakumarhttp://wordpress.morningside.edu/thecr/archives/9201
Sun, 04 Mar 2018 16:00:27 +0000http://wordpress.morningside.edu/thecr/?p=9201by Alyssa Nehring — Morningside College is busy preparing for the visit of Mohana Rajakumar, this year’s Dimmitt Fellow. Rajakumar’s residency will begin on Monday, March 12 and conclude on Friday, March 23.

Rajakumar was born in India, then moved to the United States, where she was raised and received her education, including her Ph.D. in English from the University of Florida in 2008. In 2005, Rajakumar moved to Qatar and spent her time teaching and writing about issues related to gender, race, and pedagogy. While living in the Middle East, she became a writer and has since published eight e-books and many papers in peer-reviewed publications.

Rajakumar has a full schedule during her two-week visit but is still very excited to be coming to Morningside. Over email, Rajakumar is eager to come, “Sharing your books with readers is every author’s dream. I am thrilled to be able to do so with such a unique community as Morningside.”

During her residency as this year’s Dimmitt Fellow, Rajakumar will participate in a wide variety of events on campus, including fourteen classroom visits, two Friday Is Writing Day talks, two large-group CIC workshops, a faculty development workshop, and three feature events that will be open to the public. The first of these is a discussion about the challenges facing writers when they attempt to negotiate “the personal and the cultural” with Morningside English professor Steve Coyne entitled “Making Stories.” Both Rajakumar and Coyne are writers; however, they have their differences, especially cultural. As Coyne notes, “You can learn about commonalities even when you’re so different”. This event will be held on Thursday, Mar. 15, in Klinger-Neal Theatre at 6:30 pm. A book signing will be held before the event at 6 pm.

Another of Rajakumar’s many talents is playwriting, and the second premier event will be Morningside’s theatre students’ adaptation of four of her short plays. Their performance of “Diversity: An Afternoon or New 10-Minute Plays by Mohana Rajakumar” will take place on Sunday, March 18, at 2 pm in Klinger-Neal Theater a Q & A with Rajakumar and the student directors will immediately follow the performance.

The final event will be a public talk entitled “Making Rivers in the Desert: What Americans Can Learn Living Abroad”. This event will focus on Rajakumar’s personal experiences living and working in the Middle East and her belief in the value of such experiences as a means of understanding ourselves and the world around us better. This event will be held in UPS Auditorium on Mar. 20 at 7 pm.

During her fellowship, Rajakumar will not only be spending her time on campus but also out in the community. On the morning of Monday, March 12, she will participate in a children’s book reading and discussion about her own experiences with immigration and naturalization with various women’s groups and ELL students at the Mary Treglia Community Ho

use. On the morning of Friday, March 23, she will lead a K-12 “teachers as writers” workshop entitled “Dreaming in Plotlines: Turning Your Ideas into Books That Sell” for area educators at the Northwest Area Education Agency. She will also be meeting with local press for interviews.

Rajakumar’s fellowship is partially funded by a grant from Humanities Iowa. Dr. Christina Triezenberg, who has been serving as the grant’s project director and working to coordinate Rajakumar’s visit, is very thankful and said, “Humanities Iowa has been very generous to Morningside College, and we are grateful for their support and help in promoting our program.”

All of Rajakumar’s main events are free and open to the public. If you are interested in learning more about Rajakumar’s visit, please contact Dr. Christina Triezenberg, Assistant Professor of English, via email at triezenbergc@morningside.edu.

]]>Repeat Winners at Art Showhttp://wordpress.morningside.edu/thecr/archives/9153
Wed, 28 Feb 2018 21:27:42 +0000http://wordpress.morningside.edu/thecr/?p=9153 by Jesseca Ormond – Students, both art and non-art majors, submitted up to two artworks that fell under graphic design, photography or studio art to the annual Morningside Art Show last month. The pieces were hung in the Eppley Art Gallery, and were displayed for approximately three weeks.

Director of the art department Terri McGaffin encouraged students to enter the show for two main reasons.

“One reason is that there is much to be gained from seeing your art in a gallery setting,where it becomes a shared experience. Another reason is that two professionals in the field of art and design see your work, when they come to choose award winners.”

The judges of this year’s art show were Dave Webster and Joel Damon. Webster is the principal and creative director of Webster, an Omaha brand design firm founded in 1982. He graduated from Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1977. Damon graduated from Briar Cliff University in 2015 with an art major and an art history minor. Prior to that, his 40-year career was in psychiatric social work and as psycho therapy.

During the art show reception, held on Wednesday 21st February, juror Joel Damon addressed the attendees and expounded on each placed art work. Damon pointed out that the overall quality of the show left an impact.

“It was an honor to be asked to come and participate in this experience. . . One thing is that so many of your pieces struck us as jurors and as a result of that we had many honorable mentions,” Damon said.

Every 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winner received congratulatory prize money. Best of show winner Amy Corathes jokingly acknowledged that the prize money could contribute to the purchase of a textbook.

The victory required the Mustangs to come back from an 11-point deficit in the final minutes. Read more here.

]]>Building a Startup to Build Experiencehttp://wordpress.morningside.edu/thecr/archives/9163
Mon, 26 Feb 2018 22:18:06 +0000http://wordpress.morningside.edu/thecr/?p=9163by Alyssa Nehring–M.E. Consulting is a consulting agency being built and run by Morningside students. Although still in the early stages, M.E. Consulting has the goal of the giving members the opportunity to gain real working experience by providing consulting services to small businesses and startups in the Siouxland community.

As the newest addition to Junior Enterprise USA (JE USA), M.E. Consulting is working to build a student-run business from the ground up, just like some of the startups and business they will be working with. Being JE USA-affiliated gives M.E. Consulting a great base to build the Morningside Junior Enterprise (JE).

JE USA defines a JE as a non-profit, non-religious, and non-political, totally student managed group that is linked to a higher-education institution. JE also encourages members to develop and build their entrepreneurial spirit by starting their own projects. JE’s must also have the end-goal of developing members both professionally and personally.

Bruna Maia Nicolato Correa, the president of JE USA commented on the growth of M.E. Consulting. “I’m super proud of the work you’ve been doing so far. I hope to see M.E. Consulting as one of the best JE’s by the end of this year,” Correa said. JE USA is the United States chapter of the Junior Enterprise movement that has been very popular and successful in Europe and Brazil. The JE USA branch was born in 2016.

M.E. Consulting is currently perfecting its business plan and finalizing the services they plan to provide. They will provide a wide variety of social media consultancy services, this is made possible by the variety of talents that student members bring to the group. M.E. Consulting is constantly looking for talented hard-working students to join the team.

If you are interested in getting involved or hiring M.E. consulting, please email meconsulting@morningside.edu for more information. M.E. Consulting is also on Facebook at @MEConsulting.JE.

by Jesseca Ormond– Students and professionals from the Siouxland area recently came together for the Iowa Women Lead Change annual women’s conference. The conference was held February 15th at the Sioux City Convention Center.

The theme for this year’s conference was Iowa Women and Men Lead Change – Better Together. Director of Iowa Economic Development Authority, Debi Durham, on including men in this year’s conference, emphasized the importance of diverse thought.

“It is critical to have a voice… having a leadership team of men and women being transparent and having a culture that brings about diversity of though,” Durham said.

Durham went on to express her gratitude for not only having the support of women but also that of men throughout her career. Durham’s inspirational quote of choice was by Susan B Anthony and it states “men of quality are not intimidated by women demanding equality.”

Keynote speaker Robyn Benincasa, a world champion adventure racer, San Diego firefighter and a CNN Hero, spoke about the essential elements of extreme performance. Benincasa emphasized personal responsibility. “Find the way to be your best self on your worst day,” Benincasa advised.

Keynote male speakers in this year’s inclusive conference were Jason Lauritsen and Joe Gerstandt of Talent Anarchy, in Omaha, Nebraska. They broke the ice by organizing a flash mob and expounded upon organizational culture and being authentic.

“Aspirations represent the best versions of ourselves while the things we do are our actuality, they show our habits and choices,” Lauritsen elaborated.

Students from Morningsde College who attended the 2018 conference, described it as inspiring and its message a vital resource for shaping young professionals.

by Jesseca Ormond–Morningside College hosted 37 high school bands during the 46th annual Jazz festival in February.

Jazz Director Russ Nagel, described the purpose of the festival as educational. “Our purpose is to provide a great educational experience in jazz through experienced judges, guest artists and clinicians,” Nagel said.

During the festival bands played a competition set for the judges. The sets were followed by 30-minute sessions with professional clinicians.

The bands travelled from Northwest Iowa, South Dakota, and Nebraska to attend the festival.

The event concluded with performances by the Morningside Jazz Ensemble and guest artists Ottumwa saxophonist David Sharp, and Durango, Colorado, pianist Easton Stuard.

]]>A New Honors Program is on the Horizonhttp://wordpress.morningside.edu/thecr/archives/9133
Fri, 23 Feb 2018 15:36:45 +0000http://wordpress.morningside.edu/thecr/?p=9133by Maggie Ganley–As the current interdepartmental honors program fades away, plans for a future honors program are on the horizon.

The interdepartmental honors program currently offered is being phased out and all of the current students in the program will be taught out.

Recognizing the value in having an honors program available on campus, an ad hoc committee was formed last year to create ideas for a new honors program. The option that has generated the most interest is departmental honors that offers credit. As the tentative proposal is now, each department would be presented with the option to offer honors.

To join, students would need to meet at least three criteria. These are: a certain cumulative GPA, a certain GPA within the major, and the completion of a long-term project. Individual departments could add additional requirements at their discretion.

This form of honors would allow people to go beyond what is currently required from their classes and complete a longer term project. Examples of this include a chemistry research project, a literary analysis, and so on, but the decision will ultimately depend on what departments decide to do.

Structuring a new honors program that incorporates the core ideas the committee has come up with puts Morningside more in line with what peer institutions offer as honors courses, and provides students the opportunity to further explore their major and/or get more involved.

“What we’re really looking for here is for students to get a really substantial experience from being in honors,” said Prof. Brian McFarland, one of the members of the ad hoc committee. “Not only getting course credit on a transcript, but getting a good idea of shouldering additional responsibility, exploring creative avenues that you might not get to explore otherwise, really getting different perspectives on things from incoming speakers and other people to guide activities and, as far as departmental honors, really gaining that next level of expertise and experience within your chosen field.”

Randy Campbell, another member on the committee, agreed. He said, “I’m glad that we’re going to have some kind of honors that students can take. I think honors in the discipline is an especially good idea because that allows students to really excel in an area they’re interested in.”

Departmental honors also has the possibility of including a seminar course that allows for group discussions or a split level class.

Although the current focus is departmental honors, faculty will consider a restructured interdepartmental honors program once the departmental honors program is in place. This could come as split level general education courses or projects that are not specific to a certain major or course.

The committee hopes to get faculty approval for a new honors program soon and implement it after students in the current honors program have graduated.

Current students respond
Students enrolled in the current honors program have heard little about the restructuring of the program, as much of it is still tentative.

Junior Rachel DeJong said, “I’ve heard a little about the restructuring, but no details. I know they were considering whether to keep the interdepartmental structure or to shift to a more department-focused approach. I personally support the interdepartmental approach because it brings more varied viewpoints into the discussion. I, being a business major, see the world a little differently than an education major or a biology major.”

Rachel Arnts, an honors student graduating this spring, said, “I’ve heard stuff about it from fellow classmates. I recall Geoff Harkness mentioning it in my Honors class a year ago. I honestly don’t know how they’re changing anything. I’ve heard too many rumors so I don’t know what’s true and is actually going to happen. At one point I heard that the program was being completely cut off. Since I was told the changes would never affect me since I’m an upperclassmen, I haven’t been paying much attention to the issue lately.”

Hopefully once the faculty and committee have come to a full decision, the situation will be fully explained to students and they can see the benefits of what the new program has to offer.